The Jewish state is watching and waiting because it knows its own strength.
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Israel may sometimes look like a sitting duck while it watches and waits as Iran and Hezbollah, with their worthy patrons Russia and China behind them, howl for Israel’s destruction.
But Israel is watching and waiting because it knows its strength. It is prepared for any eventuality. Today, its military readiness is exemplary. Its intelligence services are at the height of their powers. The home front is concerned but determined, going about their lives more or less as normal.
Defense Minister Yoav Gallant has promised that Hezbollah will come to a bad end if it tries anything. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has pledged a decisive retaliatory attack on Iran, if necessary.
Yet Iran and Hezbollah bluster on, because their threats are not really about revenge but their raison d’être of destroying Israel.
This is but the latest iteration of an age-old hate. It has simply acquired modern weapons and a vicious religious bigotry—a hatred capable of slaughtering women and babies, of rape and kidnapping, of outright massacre. And not just on Oct. 7, but always, for decades, for centuries.
The Oct. 7 war continues, with Iran, through Hezbollah, continuing to attack the north of Israel, from which more than 100,000 Israelis have been displaced. They have made clear that they will not return home to be targeted every day by Hezbollah’s rockets, missiles, and threats of an invasion worse than Oct. 7. Israel knows that, eventually, it will have to take serious action against the terror group.
The attacks go on and Iran continues to bluster, making blithering threats of Israel’s destruction. Iran’s strategy is clear: To use Hezbollah as a sword and shield while the Islamist regime closes in on a nuclear weapon.
But the Iranian regime cares about more than destroying Israel. It cares about its shadow fleet that bypasses sanctions and trades millions of barrels of oil a day with the likes of Russia and China. It cares about its nuclear and military facilities. It cares above all about protecting itself from the wrath of its own people. Perhaps it is time to unleash that wrath.
The Iranian people are fed up with the arrogance of a regime they hate, just as the people of Lebanon largely do not want to be hapless human shields in the hands of the mad terrorists of Hezbollah.
Israel knows this. And it knows that there is no point in trying to reach absurd and useless “ceasefire” agreements with the likes of Hamas and Hezbollah. No “ceasefire” will convince the residents of the north to return home with Hezbollah still on the border.
The world should learn from this. It should not be reassured by the idea of a nice, new agreement with Iran that will hand the mullahs billions of dollars in sanctions relief and, eventually, a nuclear weapon.
At the moment, the whole world is talking about the Taylor Swift concert in Austria that had to be canceled due to threats from Muslim fundamentalists. Israel is not a concert. It is the state of the Jewish people, forever. It cannot and will not be canceled. It’s time for the world to understand this.
Alan Garber, president of Harvard University, stated on Monday that the Trump administration’s recent actions against the school could cost it up to $1 billion annually.
In a joint statement with the school’s provost, executive vice president and vice president for finance and chief financial officer, Garber stated on July 14 that “the federal government has terminated billions of dollars of multi-year research grants and contracts that had been awarded to Harvard.”
The Trump administration has also proposed “dramatic reductions” in the National Institute of Health and other agencies “that support research,” the leaders wrote.
The university’s legal fight to host foreign students and academics remains ongoing, and a recent spending bill raises the tax on Harvard’s endowment from 1.4% to as high as 8%, the Harvard leaders stated.
“We hope that our legal challenges will reverse some of these federal actions and that our efforts to raise alternative sources of funding will be successful,” they wrote. “As that work proceeds, we also need to prepare for the possibility that the lost revenues will not be restored anytime soon.”
The university’s hiring freeze on faculty and staff, which has been in place since March, will continue, the Harvard leaders said.
“The unprecedented challenges we face have led to disruptive changes, painful layoffs and ongoing uncertainty about the future,” they wrote. “As we meet these challenges together, we will continue to benefit from our commitment to one another and the commitment of Harvard and every research university to serve the nation and the world through our core mission of teaching, learning and research.”
The U.S. Department of Education is investigating what it calls “inaccurate and incomplete disclosures” of foreign funding at the University of Michigan, a public university.
Paul Moore, the department’s chief investigative counsel, wrote to Domenico Grasso, the school’s interim president, that Michigan is legally required to disclose foreign gifts of at least $250,000 annually, and failure to do so could result in civil action from the U.S. Justice Department.
“Despite the University of Michigan’s history of downplaying its vulnerabilities to malign foreign influence, recent reports reveal that UM’s research laboratories remain vulnerable to sabotage, including what the U.S. Department of Justice recently described in criminal charges as ‘potential agroterrorism’ by Chinese nationals affiliated with UM,” Moore stated. (JNS sought comment from the university.)
“Unfortunately, tens of millions of dollars in foreign funding in UM’s disclosure reports have been reported in an untimely manner and appear to erroneously identify some of UM’s foreign funders as ‘nongovernmental entities,’ even though the foreign funders seem to be directly affiliated with foreign governments,” he added.
The public school’s Center for Chinese Studies “continues to engage in substantial research collaborations with Tsinghua University, Peking University, Fudan University and Zhejiang University—all universities deeply involved in China’s emerging science and technology research efforts directly linked to military programs,” Moore wrote.
They carry the memories of people’s last moments, many of them in brutal conditions, for years. They witness loss, destruction and death, often in the most horrific circumstances and at great risk to their safety. Since the Hamas massacre on Oct. 7, 2023, these memories haunt them and for some, it has become unbearable.
For the extraordinary volunteers of ZAKA, who provide the most holy of services—taking care of the dead, often in extremely dangerous situations—helping others is an imperative. However, many of its 3,000 volunteers have reported an inability to sleep, function normally and continue their vital work because of the devastation and tragedy that they have witnessed.
Duby Weissenstern, the CEO of ZAKA, a non-governmental search and rescue organization founded by Yehuda Meshi Zahav in Jerusalem in 1997, has a dream. He plans to open resilience centers around Israel to provide much-needed healing therapies to first responders as well as cater to Israelis who are struggling with mental health.
Weissenstern told JNS, “ZAKA volunteers deal with a tremendous amount of trauma, an estimated 1,500 casualties a year. Terror attacks, murders and many other tragic events besides Oct. 7. When they return home, it is difficult to share with their families what they have endured, but they can speak to their friends from ZAKA about what bothers them. I have a dream that in every city in Israel, there will be a home, a place where you can come and just take a breath; a place where you can breathe again.”
Weissenstern said that they will be centers open to everyone. “Everyone!” he stressed. "Everyone will be welcome."
Understanding PTSD
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is common amongst first responders, often manifesting as flashbacks, nightmares, anxiety and emotional numbness. Studies have shown that at least 30 percent of emergency personnel suffer from PTSD.
Simcha Greineman, ZAKA’s spokesperson to the United Nations, emphasized that it is not just volunteers who are affected by trauma, but also the organization’s employees and their families.
Volunteers are often triggered when they go out to situations that take them back to the trauma of the Hamas assault, Greineman said.
“I can tell you my own story. I am a carpenter and my job entails sitting with the plans and going over the blueprints. For the first two weeks after Oct. 7, my responsibility was collecting bodies and then for another 14 and a half weeks, I was in charge of signing off on every house, making sure everything was done the proper way.
"In every house, I knew the story because every house had to be dealt with a different way. I cannot look at blueprints. Every time I do, I see another house in Be’eri or Nir Oz or Kissufim, a living room in Kfar Aza. Everything triggers me, even though we are nearly two years on. In this recent war with Iran, I came again to houses blown up [by Iranian missiles] that took me back to those situations. Everything can trigger.”
While there are structured mental health programs for soldiers and security personnel, this does not extend to civilian first responders. Israel is a nation in deep trauma, despite the resilience of the Israeli people. Nearly two years of war have taken an immense toll and many Israelis feel they cannot begin the healing process until all the remaining hostages being held by Hamas return home. Without intervention, untreated PTSD can lead to depression, family breakdowns and even suicide.
An artist's rendition of a future ZAKA resilience center. Credit: ZAKA.
Choice of therapies
Individuals will have a choice about what therapies are best suited to their needs. Some people respond to cold plunge therapy, while others prefer animal therapy and so on, Greineman said.
The ZAKA resilience centers will offer a multitude of different kinds of therapies. “Not everyone is the same," he said. “There are different stages and different ways of treatment and the best thing is that you understand you have a place where you can come to with helpful ways to help you. That’s the main benefit of having it in one center.”
Types of therapy to be offered include private and couples therapy, trauma recovery support groups, psychological treatment for PTSD, specialized psychological therapy for children and families, as well as occupational and physical therapies. There will also be therapeutic support for volunteers in the field that can be done via Zoom or phone, group trauma therapy and professional training.
Greineman shared his experience with cold plunge therapy and how he learned that he could live with the trauma. He won’t forget it, but he can live "beside it," he said, adding that he derived a tremendous amount of strength from that.
ZAKA aims to have 10 resilience centers within eight years that will be built in three phases. The first phase, within one to two years, will focus on building a center in Jerusalem, chosen for its high volume of ZAKA volunteers and trauma cases with the goal of validating treatment methodologies, collecting patient recovery data and refining operational processes.
The second phase, in the second and third years, will seek to establish centers in Haifa, Tel Aviv, Tiberias and Be’ersheva, which will cover key regional areas and ensure that all staff abide by the best trauma-care practices. The third and final phase, over four to eight years, will see centers strategically positioned across Israel that will be self-sustainable through partnerships, insurance reimbursements and government support.
“Our mission in life is to care for one another. It is not just for ourselves but to care for the entire world,” Greineman concluded, noting that the ZAKA resilience centers will do exactly that.
Amid escalating violence against the Druze community in Syria’s Sweida province, top Israeli leaders issued a series of strong statements on Wednesday, signaling Israel’s continued military engagement and its deepening concern over the fate of minority groups in Syria.
In a video address, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appealed directly to Israeli Druze citizens, warning against crossing into Syria to assist their kin.
“My Druze brothers, citizens of Israel. The situation in Sweida and southwest Syria is dire,” Netanyahu said. “The IDF, Air Force and other forces are in action. We're working to save our Druze brothers and eliminate regime gangs. Now, I have one request for you. You are Israeli citizens. Do not cross the border. You're putting your lives at risk. You could be killed, kidnapped, and you’re hindering the IDF’s efforts. So I'm asking you, return to your homes. Let the IDF do its job."
Israeli Defense Minister Israel Katz reinforced this message, declaring that Israel would respond forcefully to attacks on the Druze population in southern Syria.
“The signals to Damascus are over—now there will be painful blows,” Katz warned. “The IDF will continue to act decisively in Sweida until these attacks stop and those responsible withdraw.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar also weighed in, condemning what he called a pattern of systematic violence against Syria’s minority communities—including Kurds, Alawites and Christians—while calling on the international community to break its silence.
“We are witnessing recurring persecution and pogroms against minorities,” said Sa’ar. “In just six months, mass killings in northwest Syria, attacks on Alawites, Kurd hostility in the north, and church burnings have all gone largely unnoticed by the world.”
Referencing shocking footage from recent attacks on Syrian Druze civilians, Sa’ar criticized both the Syrian regime and global inaction: “What else must happen for the international community to raise its voice?”
Sa’ar emphasized Israel’s core interests in Syria: to maintain security along the border and to protect the Druze, with whom Israel shares “a bold and strong relationship.”
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar addresses the situation in southern Syria on July 16, 2025. Credit: Israel Foreign Ministry.
The remarks follow a series of Israeli airstrikes in southern Syria, where the IDF is targeting militias accused of participating in attacks on Druze villages. Israeli strikes extended to the capital Damascus on Wednesday with the targeting of the entrance to the Syrian regime’s military headquarters.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a U.K.-based war monitor, updated the death toll from the clashes in southern Syria to 248 as of Wednesday.
SOHR, long affiliated with the Syrian opposition, also reported widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure, including churches and residential homes, describing government-backed assaults as attacks on the “dignity and property” of Druze residents in the Sweida region.
Iran is "ready" to respond to any renewed military action against it and has the capabilities to deal "even bigger blows" to the United States and other militaries, Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei warned on Wednesday.
The Islamic Republic "not only does not fear America—it instills fear in it," Khamenei declared, speaking to the country's judiciary officials in his second public appearance since the June 13-24 war with Israel.
"Although we consider the Zionist regime [Israel] a cancer and the U.S. a criminal due to its support of that regime, we did not seek war," he said. "Yet whenever the enemy attacked, our response was forceful and firm."
Israel was "brought to its knees" by Iran and "desperately turned to the U.S." to strike the regime's key nuclear facilities on June 22, Khamenei claimed, adding that Jerusalem "realized it cannot handle" Tehran.
The Iranian supreme leader described Tehran's counterattack to the U.S. airstrikes as "significant," adding that "once media censorship is lifted, it will become clear how great a blow Iran delivered." He added: "Of course, even bigger blows could be dealt to the U.S. and others."
Tehran "possesses all necessary tools, from logic to military power—and whether on the battlefield of diplomacy or in military conflict, we will enter, Allah willing, from a position of strength," Khamenei stated.
Jerusalem's June 13 opening strikes in the Islamic Republic wiped out Tehran's top military command, including the chief of staff of its army, with more officials killed during the subsequent 12 days of fighting.
After the United States joined the war, striking the Natanz, Isfahan and Fordow nuclear sites on June 22, Iran launched 14 missiles at the U.S. military's Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar. Doha said it downed 13 of the projectiles and that the Iranian attack resulted in no casualties.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and the foreign ministers of France, Germany and Britain agreed in a phone call on Monday that they would give Tehran until the end of August to reach a new nuclear deal, Israel's Channel 12 News outlet reported on Wednesday, citing three sources.
The report came a day after French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot told Reuters that Paris, Berlin and London would activate the snapback mechanism by the end of August if no concrete progress has been made.
Reimposition of the U.N. sanctions on Tehran over its nuclear program will lead to an "appropriate and proportionate response," the Iranian regime warned earlier this week.
"The threat to use the snapback mechanism lacks legal and political basis and will be met with an appropriate and proportionate response from the Islamic Republic of Iran," Reuters quoted Foreign Ministry spokesperson Esmaeil Baghaei as saying at a press conference.
Following condemnations by U.S. officials of proposed Irish legislation that would boycott Israeli products from Judea and Samaria, former Irish Justice Minister Alan Shatter warned on Wednesday that a ban would neither be “well received” nor go “unnoticed” in Washington, D.C.
The remarks were made following a discussion on Tuesday in the Irish Parliament’s joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade on the “Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill 2025,” which is being readied for a plenum vote.
U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, Senator Rick Scott (R-Fla.) and others have previously rebuked the bill.
“This foolish move not only wrongfully targets Israel and the Jewish Community, but also harms American businesses,” Scott wrote on X on Tuesday. “They should think twice about the message they’re sending by passing this bill, which complicates our economic relationship and targets our ally.”
Huckabee wrote on X: “Did the Irish fall into a vat of Guinness and propose something so stupid that it would be attributed to [an] act of diplomatic intoxication? It will harm Arabs as much as Israelis. Sober up Ireland!” He added that the Irish government should call Israel’s foreign ministry and “say you’re sorry.”
In an interview with JNS after the sitting, Shatter said: “I think what's happening in Ireland is now going global. It's getting noticed, particularly in the United States.”
For U.S. multinational companies located in Ireland, especially, “there's no doubt this bill will create major difficulties,” with potential consequences for as many as 350,000 earners in Ireland working for that sector “directly and indirectly,” he added.
Shatter also spoke at the parliamentary committee hearing on the bill, which he called antisemitic.
“In its essence, the bill is the first initiative of any European government to enact legislation to intentionally discriminate against Jews since the defeat of Nazi Germany in 1945,” said Shatter, who spoke as a representative of the Ireland Israel Alliance along with jurist Natasha Hausdorff, a member of U.K. Lawyers for Israel.
“This antisemitic symbolism is reinforced by the fact that the bill contains no similar prohibition relating to the residents of any other occupied territory,” added Shatter. Other critics of the bill at the meeting included Maurice Cohen, chair of the Jewish Representative Council of Ireland, and Irish Chief Rabbi Yoni Wieder.
Four major Jewish-American organizations—the American Jewish Committee, the Anti-Defamation League, B'nai B'rith International and the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations— also condemned the bill. “The law could create significant risks for U.S. companies doing business in Israel and would fuel rising antisemitic and anti-Zionist sentiment in Ireland and elsewhere,” they warned in a statement on Tuesday.
Rabbi Yoni Wieder speaks at the Irish parliament on July 15, 2025. The photo is a screenshot of a video made by the Oireachtas.
The bill “singles out Israel and it undermines the prospect for a negotiated two-state solution by attempting to unilaterally predetermine the final status of disputed territories,” the statement continued. “We are very worried about rising antisemitism in Ireland and note with tremendous concern” Cohen’s assertion that the Irish Jewish community is “increasingly fearful," it said.
At the parliamentary discussion, Cohen said the bill “might drive Jewish communities here in Ireland further into fear and isolation.” Whereas criticism of Israel is not antisemitism, he said, “when criticism becomes a campaign, when it becomes law—and no other state is treated the same—we have to pause. We have to question.”
Gideon Taylor, an American Jewish community leader who is originally from Ireland,“ told JNS that U.S. Jews are "increasingly worried about demonization of Israel by Ireland," in the legislation but also in the "attempt of Ireland to reinterpret the long established law of genocide at the International Court of Justice to try to find Israel guilty of genocide.”
Ireland last year joined South Africa's legal action against Israel for alleged genocide at the International Court of Justice, and has sought to widen the tribunal's definition of genocide to include blocking humanitarian aid.
Representing the anti-Israel side of the debate were John Reynolds of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign; Fatin al Tamimi of the Ireland Palestine Solidarity Campaign; and Éamonn Meehan of Sadaka – the Ireland Palestine Alliance.
“When Ireland starts, everybody will follow on because it’s a legal obligation, it’s a moral obligation for all countries, including Ireland,” Al Tamimi told the committee.
The committee’s members were not receptive to the pro-Israel side, Shatter told JNS.
“They had no real interest, I think, in anything we had to say, beyond trying to get us to agree with them in the points they kept on making. They didn't really engage,” he said.
Beyond the bill’s potential impact on Irish-U.S. ties, it could, if passed into law, complicate Ireland’s position within the European Union, said Shatter, who served as Ireland’s minister of defense and justice for three years until 2014.
There are “complicated European Union legal issues relating to it,” because Ireland “can't simply unilaterally impose import restrictions on goods coming in from a third country with which the European Union has a trade agreement,” he told JNS. Such a law would trigger legal challenges in European courts, he added.
The bill states: “The importation of goods originating in an Israeli settlement is prohibited,” clarifying that “Israeli settlement” means “a city, village or industrial zone located in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.”
U.S. ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee on Wednesday attended a hearing in the Tel Aviv District court on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trial, saying the unusual step was a matter of representing the position of the U.S. president.
“I’m an observer, it’s an open trial. I wanted to see what was happening,” the diplomat told Israeli reporters when asked why he decided to come.
However, as Huckabee took a seat in the courtroom, the proceedings moved behind closed doors and he was required to leave the room, according to Hebrew-language outlet Ynet News.
A photo of Huckabee standing next to Netanyahu and Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana inside the court surfaced online, in an apparent show of support for the Israeli premier.
In late June, U.S. President Donald Trump reiterated his call that the corruption charges against Netanyahu be dropped.
Calling the premier a “war hero” who did a “fabulous job” coordinating with the U.S. on defeating Iran’s nuclear threat, Trump then turned to the efforts to reach a hostage deal with Hamas terrorists in Gaza.
Trump wrote in a post on his Truth Social platform that it is “terrible what they are doing in Israel to Bibi Netanyahu... How is it possible that the Prime Minister of Israel can be forced to sit in a Courtroom all day long, over NOTHING (Cigars, Bugs Bunny Doll, etc.). It is a POLITICAL WITCH HUNT, very similar to the Witch Hunt that I was forced to endure.”
The longtime Israeli leader is “right now in the process of negotiating a deal with Hamas, which will include getting the hostages back,” Trump continued, warning that this “travesty of ‘Justice’ will interfere with both Iran and Hamas negotiations.
“The United States of America spends Billions of Dollar[s] a year, far more than on any other Nation, protecting and supporting Israel. We are not going to stand for this,” he wrote. “Let Bibi go, he’s got a big job to do!”
Following his show up in court on Wednesday, Huckabee shared Trump’s message from late June on X and wrote, “I stopped by the trial of [Netanyahu] in Tel Aviv today. My conclusion? [President Trump] is right... again.”
Earlier on Wednesday, Huckabee spoke at the Muniworld 2025 Urban Innovation Conference in Tel Aviv and revealed his intention to visit the court later in the day.
“I’m going to go by today and sit through a little of [the trial]. It should be very interesting to be a witness to it,” he said in footage posted on Ynet.
Further explaining his decision to attend the trial, the ambassador said that “It’s a matter of representing what the president has said repeatedly. [Trump] has made his position very clear. He has not intervened in the proceedings or in the outcome; he recognizes that has to go its own way... But it’s a personal thing for him. He considers the prime minister a friend. I think that friendship was certainly enhanced last week by their relationship—they had an extraordinary bonding, if you will,” the diplomat continued, referring to Netanyahu’s latest trip to the White House.
He went on to say that “there’s such a partnership between the United States and Israel, it’s an important partnership. I say all the time, we have friends, we have allies, but we only have one partner, Israel. It’s a unique relationship, but it’s one that’s important not just for Israel, it’s important for the United States,” Huckabee stressed.
The Israel Defense Forces announced on Wednesday that it had completed the Magen Oz corridor during a special operation in the Khan Yunis area of southern Gaza.
According to the IDF, the security corridor spans 15 kilometers (9.32 miles), cutting through Khan Yunis's eastern and western sectors. The military described the corridor as a strategic element in exerting pressure on Hamas and securing the decisive defeat of its Khan Yunis Brigade.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pfUphnjDbU&t=17s
Troops from the 36th Division’s 188th Armored Brigade and the Golani Brigade were involved in establishing the corridor, which links to the Morag corridor that separates Khan Yunis from Rafah.
The IDF also reported that soldiers had killed dozens of terrorists and located and dismantled terrorist infrastructure, including weapons stockpiles and tunnel routes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fGGWUTfJ89Q
"The Southern Command continues to expand and solidify operational control over the central corridor and operate to protect the security of the civilians of the State of Israel, and the residents of the communities near the Gaza Strip in particular," the IDF stated.
Israeli forces remain active throughout the Palestinian enclave as part of the months-long “Operation Gideon’s Chariots,” a campaign within the broader war that began on Oct. 7, 2023, when Hamas launched its deadly cross-border assault on southern Israel.
In the northern Gaza Strip, Israeli troops eliminated a terror cell shortly after it fired an anti-tank missile at forces. No injuries were reported in the incident.
Additionally, IDF troops dismantled a rocket launch site used to fire on Israeli communities near Gaza on Monday and eliminated several terrorists attempting to plant explosives in the area.
In 24 hours between Monday and Tuesday, the Israeli Air Force struck more than 120 targets across the Strip, including terrorist cells, weapons storage facilities and underground infrastructure.
On Tuesday, the IDF said troops had uncovered and dismantled a significant terror tunnel network stretching more than 2 miles long (3.5 kilometers) in Khan Yunis.
The tunnel network, described as a “major route,” reportedly consisted of multiple branches and was used by terrorists as a hideout. Inside, engineers and troops uncovered forms of terrorist infrastructure, including concealed storage areas for explosives and weapons.
During the mission, soldiers also uncovered and deactivated explosive devices that were believed to be intended for attacks on Israeli forces operating in the area. Additional arms caches were discovered during sweeps of the tunnel complex and surrounding locations.
Surgeons at Ziv Medical Center in the northern Israeli city of Safed delivered two sets of triplets just hours apart on Sunday, the hospital announced Tuesday.
The first set of triplets was delivered via scheduled cesarean section at 34 weeks’ gestation, while the second was born during an emergency procedure at 26 weeks after early labor began, the hospital said. Both sets included two boys and one girl.
The two mothers—one from Kibbutz Mahanaim near Rosh Pina and the other from the Arab Israeli village of Tuba-Zangariyye—were reported to be recovering together in the hospital’s postpartum unit, while their six newborns were admitted to the neonatal intensive care unit for observation.
“Triplet births are always challenging and emotional,” said Dr. Inbar Ben-Shahar, director of Ziv Medical Center’s Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. “It’s important to emphasize that, from a medical standpoint, this is considered a very high-risk pregnancy,” she added.
Prof. Eric Shinwell, director of neonatology at Ziv Medical Center, said the newborns were "in good condition," adding that while they require close monitoring, "they are in the best hands."
"The arrival of triplets in the NICU requires special preparation—three incubators, three doctors, three nurses—everything times three. But at Ziv, we are prepared for this," he said.